Category: Good Friday

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Three Predictions of Good Friday

On this day of days, I hope you are meditating on the death of Jesus Christ. I further hope that your meditations are leading you to worship him with deep gratitude. Perhaps you will be found among the millions worldwide who will gather in local congregations for Good Friday services.

If so, you may hear a faithful pastor talk about the death of Jesus as a fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose. Indeed, the Lord Jesus himself knew why he had come. The Father in heaven had sent him to earth on a saving mission, and he willingly embraced it. The New Testament reveals how Jesus repeatedly foretold his suffering, death and resurrection.

The gospel of Mark, for example, tells how the Lord “plainly” (clearly, openly and unambiguously) spoke of his impending death.  Jesus “then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this” (Mark 8:31-32).

The disciples did not understand what this meant. Peter, their spokesman, protested vehemently that such a thing should never happen. Peter was wrong, and Jesus rebuked Peter: “Get behind me Satan! You do not have in mind the things of God but the things of men” (Mark 8:33). Jesus was declaring that his death was necessary to fulfill God’s plan of salvation.

Later, Jesus repeated the prediction. He said to his twelve disciples: “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise” (Mark 9:31). The next verse says “They did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.” This was probably the time when Jesus “resolutely set out for Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51). He was determined to carry out the Father’s purpose and to fulfill the prophetic scriptures.

Mark gives us a third occasion when Jesus predicted his death. He describes the reaction of the disciples who were incredulous. “They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. ‘We are going up to Jerusalem,’ he said, ‘and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise'” (Mark 10:32-34). Luke’s gospel adds the comment that “everything written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled” (Luke 18:31).

These three predictions in Mark’s gospel tell us that the Lord was aware of what was about to happen. He was preparing his disciples for the terrible events that were to take place in Jerusalem. He wanted them (and us) to know that his death would not be accidental. He was not a martyr or helpless victim. His death was purposeful. “The Son of Man must suffer many things,” he said.

He referred to himself as the Son of Man, which all Jews knew to be a Messianic title (Daniel 7:13-14). Another Messianic title was the suffering servant of Isaiah 53, a prophecy which describes his death on the cross. Jesus was telling his followers that his death would be the fulfillment of biblical prophecies such as these found in Isaiah 53:3, “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering,” and Isaiah 53:5, “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:12 says, “he was numbered with the transgressors.” Of this passage Jesus said, “I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me” (Luke 22:37).

Mark goes on to quote Jesus as saying, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). It was for the salvation of sinners that Jesus paid the ransom to set us free. This is what we remember on Good Friday. This is why we worship the Son of Man with gratitude in our hearts.

Perhaps tonight you will sing with others this hymn attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux (12th century) and translated into English by James Alexander.

“O sacred head now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down,/ now scornfully surrounded with thorns, thine only crown:/ O sacred head what glory, what bliss till now was thine;/ yet though despised and gory, I joy to call thee mine.

“What thou my Lord, hast suffered was all for sinners’ gain;/ mine, mine was the transgression, but thine the deadly pain./ Lo, here I fall my Savior! ‘Tis I deserve thy place;/ look on me with thy favor, and grant to me thy grace.

“What language shall I borrow to thank thee, dearest friend,/ for this thy dying sorrow, thy pity without end?/ O make me thine forever; and should I fainting be,/ Lord let me never, never outlive my love to thee.”

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

 

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He Also Carried the Cross

He was on his way into the city from where he had been staying. His mind was preoccupied with plans for the day. As he rounded a corner, he unexpectedly found himself caught up in a crowd of spectators on their way to watch an execution outside the city wall. Suddenly Simon was conscripted by Roman soldiers to carry the cross for one of the condemned men. He had no choice but to obey. The soldiers placed the heavy cross beam on his shoulders.

This story from the gospel of Mark omits details such as Simon’s history, thoughts, and appearance. It does tell us he was from Cyrene, which was in North Africa. Since this was the time of the Jewish Passover, it is likely that he was a pilgrim in Jerusalem for the festival. He must have appeared to be a strong man, capable of carrying the load. But there is much more that we would like to know.

We do know what Simon saw. He saw the man Jesus, wearing a crown of thorns, his face swollen and disfigured, his back raw and torn from a cruel flogging. He had fallen to the pavement in weakness. The journey to skull hill was about a mile from the place of his trial and sentencing and he was  exhausted from a sleepless night and the savage beatings had had already endured.

Simon saw religious leaders proceeding to the execution, clad in their vestments, prompting mockers who shouted derisive insults at Jesus. He saw huddled groups of mourners, women who bravely followed, and did not forsake Jesus in his last hours. He saw two condemned criminals also carrying the instruments of their death, as was the Roman custom. He saw a gathering morning crowd, at first awakened by curiosity, then revolted by the shocking scene before them.

If Simon had arrived one hour sooner or one hour later, he probably would have missed this interruption in his day. Was this an accident? Or was it providence that brought him to this exact time and place in history? What was the outcome for Simon?

Mark 15:21 says that Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus. He includes this detail because these two were well known to the Christian community for whom he was writing his gospel. In Romans 16:13 the apostle Paul salutes Rufus who was a member of the Christian assembly in Rome. Does this mean that Simon from Cyrene became a believer in Jesus and that he influenced his family to believe?

Acts 13:1 names leaders of the church in Antioch. One of them was Simon who was also called “Niger.” Was this the same Simon? Was he among the Christian men who migrated north to Syria from Jerusalem because of persecution? Acts 11:20 says some of them were from Cyrene. If he was among them, he became a strong witness who proclaimed the gospel to Gentiles and helped establish the great church in Antioch. We cannot be certain, but it is possible that Simon the teacher in Antioch was the same Simon from Cyrene who carried the cross for Jesus.

Did he remain at Calvary as the Lord was dying? Did he hear the Savior’s last words from the cross? Did he become a believer on Good Friday or later, with the thousands who believed through the preaching of the apostles? Surely he never forgot his part in the trauma and sorrow of that day when the Lord was crucified. If indeed he believed, as seems likely, then bitter experience resulted in eternal blessing for Simon and his family.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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Last Words from the Cross

When Jesus called out from the cross, “It is finished,” he was saying farewell to earth. When he said to God, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46), it was an entrance greeting to heaven. His spirit was to be separated from his body. He had assurance of his spirit’s continuance apart from the body. Those who are in Christ may have that same assurance now.

His death was an act of his will. Yes, he was killed by wicked people (Acts 2:23). But in a deeper sense his death was purely voluntary. Neither Judas, nor Caiaphas, nor Pilate, nor the soldiers took his life from him. “He gave his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). No human power could have touched him unless he permitted it. Only when he declared that the appointed time had come, did he allow his enemies to arrest him (John 12:23).

He had said to his disciples, “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life — only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father” (John 10:17-18).

This tells us of the Son of God’s complete agreement with and submission to the Father’s eternal plan of redemption. For this the Father loves him. Jesus will give resurrection life to those who believe in him. But in order to do that he must experience it himself. To be raised from death, he must first die. His resurrection must be preceded by his death. This was the Father’s loving purpose for his obedient Son.

This was not a form of suicide, nor a martyr complex, nor fatalistic resignation. This was his authority to terminate his physical life, and then to resume that physical life in the resurrection. Only the Son of God has that authority. In this he exercised his power over death, to make possible our deliverance from the power of death.

So he “cried out again with a loud voice” (Matthew 27:50), “bowed his head” (John 19:30), and committed his spirit to the Father (Luke 23:46). In one moment he lost consciousness of the terrible scene in front of him and was immediately conscious of being in Paradise, in the presence of the Father. His body was taken down from the cross to be buried by the hands of humans. His spirit was taken into the loving hands of the Father in heaven.

This helps explain the Lord’s earlier words to his disciples, “I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father” (John 16:28). If you and I believe in this Jesus, his word proves as true for us as for them, “The Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God” (John 16:27).

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

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Giving Up or Giving In

Giving Up or Giving In

According to Lifeway Research, 24% of Americans observe Lent, a forty-day period of spiritual preparation for Easter. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Palm Sunday. This tradition dates back to the early Christian church and often involves a spiritual discipline such as abstinence.

Some observers give up favorite pleasures or certain foods for Lent. Christianity Today magazine reports on a study of over 29,000 Twitter messages in which people reported on what they were giving up for Lent. Some were serious and some were sarcastic.

Social networking topped the list, which also included single-use plastics, alcohol, red meat, chocolate, swearing, candy, and coffee. There were many more. Foods and technology topped the list. Some people said they were giving up religion for Lent!

In addition to the practice of abstinence, many people do something for others, go to church more, and pray more. My own spiritual exercise for this season has been to write for this space a series of meditations on our Lord’s sorrowful prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane. Luke’s gospel tells us it was a place where he usually went with his disciples. He went there to pray on the night of his betrayal.

What Jesus said and did in Gethsemane must surely prompt response of some kind. For some, it may involve giving up something for the Lord, out of gratitude and love. But permit me to offer a word of caution: no amount of self-discipline, of sacrifice, or of good deeds may earn merit or righteous standing before a holy God. The New Testament makes this clear.

For example, in Paul’s letter to Titus, the apostle gives us his theology of the gospel and its relationship to good works. In Titus 3:4-7, justification is by grace, because of God’s mercy, in the washing of rebirth, and renewal by the Holy Spirit – pure grace, kindness, and love.

Then, and only then, after establishing the fact that “he saved us,” does Paul introduce “doing what is good” (Titus 3:8). He says these good deeds are excellent and profitable. But it is clear that “he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done” (Titus 3:5).

So instead of thinking about what we might have given up for Lent, I propose that we give in to the Lord Jesus Christ, out of gratitude and love. On this Good Friday, let’s come once more to Gethsemane, feel the Savior’s anguish, hear his prayer, “Not what I will, but what you will” (Mark 14:36). Give in to him and believe in what he did for sinners when he surrendered his life to do the Father’s will on the cross.

Gethsemane demonstrates both his humanity and his deity. His revulsion against and his embrace of the purpose for which he came into the world. Give in to him who said, “I lay down my life – only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father” (John 10:17-18).

Give in to him. The best thing you can give up for him is yourself.

    –  Pastor Randy Faulkner

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Learning from Gethsemane

Learning from Gethsemane

What does it take to get you to pray? C. S. Lewis wrote that pain is God’s megaphone. His call to prayer through the troubles of life is unmistakable. “Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world,” Lewis wrote in The Problem of Pain.

Jesus was not deaf to the call of God. In the great crisis of his human life, he prayed, fervently and desperately, in the Garden of Gethsemane on the eve of his crucifixion. Michael Green has suggested some important lessons about prayer we may learn by meditating on the Lord’s example.

1. When life is hard. Prayer is necessary in those times when we feel least like praying: when pain is intolerable; when disappointment crushes the spirit; when the world is against us. Praying to God in those times is a statement of faith that he is with us in difficult circumstances. Jesus’ prayers show us
the way to respond in our personal Gethsemane experiences.

2. With others. Jesus needed the companionship of his friends. They were too tired to encourage him and pray with him. In this, they failed him. There is great value in shared times of communal prayer in which believers bear one another burdens. Our Lord needed friends and so do we.

3. Repeated prayer. There is no shame in bringing the same requests to the Lord again and again. Jesus, in fact told a story to illustrate the value of doing this very thing (Luke 18:1-8). Here in Gethsemane Jesus prayed the same prayer three times. Commenting on this, Michael Green wrote, “To keep on praying indicates both determination and confidence and demonstrates a note of seriousness that is a vital part of intercessory prayer.”

4. God’s will be done. As we think about these prayers of Jesus, we enter the realm of mystery. There is the mystery of the human and the divine Jesus praying that, if possible, the cup of suffering and sin might be taken away from him. It seems mysterious to us that the Son of God, who had enjoyed eternal unbroken fellowship with the Father could have his request denied. It was answered with a “no.” This was so that the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and his resurrection from the dead might make possible our salvation. Jesus teaches us to pray, “Not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). Jesus wanted the Father’s will to be done. God’s will was done, on Good Friday and on Easter Sunday morning.

    –  Pastor Randy Faulkner

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Go To Dark Gethsemane

Go To Dark Gethsemane

“Go to dark Gethsemane, you who feel the tempter’s power;

Your Redeemer’s conflict see; watch with him one bitter hour;

Turn not from his griefs away; learn of Jesus Christ to pray”.

These words by 19th century hymn-writer James Montgomery are on my mind as I read in the gospels about what happened in the garden of Gethsemane. I invite you to join me in meditating on our Lord’s anguished prayer in Gethsemane during the coming weeks leading up to the remembrance of his death and resurrection. 

If we wish to offer ourselves to God during this season, it may be helpful to observe the Lord’s example as he “offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission” (Hebrews 5:7). 

He went to the familiar place where he and his disciples had often gone for a retreat. It was a grove of ancient olive trees located on the lower slopes of the Mount of Olives east of Jerusalem. The name Gethsemane means “oil press” and it was probably a place for squeezing oil from the olives that were harvested there. The gospels tell us he knelt down (Luke) and then he prostrated himself with his face to the earth (Matthew) as poured out his soul in prayer.

In the preceding hours, he had been praying for his disciples (John 17). Now, in the garden, facing imminent death, Jesus prayed for himself. He knew what was coming. He had already surrendered himself to fulfill the purpose for which he came into the world. But his soul was troubled.

“Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” (John 12:27-28)

Here we see the human Jesus as he faced the sorrows of death. We see his agony over the terrible prospect of bearing the sin of the world. We see the exhaustion of his grief and his desperate loneliness in the crisis.

We are invited during this Lenten season to offer ourselves up to God in surrender and prayer, as Jesus did. This may be something like what Paul the apostle had in mind when he wanted to know Christ in “participation in his sufferings” (Philippians 3:10).

You may be entering your own private Gethsemane experience: a disappointing turn of events; a surprising bit of bad news; confusing circumstances. It has been said that the crisis prepares us to pray. “Turn not from his griefs away; learn of Jesus Christ to pray.”

    –  Pastor Randy Faulkner